You Are My Family Now
by Klarolineluvr34
Summary: While hanging out with an unexpected friend, Hope accidentally gets drunk and makes an abrupt decision that leaves her confused. During her confusion, she turns to Josie for help with the decision that she made wasted. (Warning: STRICTLY Hosie, not a fan of the couple, don't read. Also, I had no idea what I was doing with this)


Hope was lying on her bed, thinking about her father when there's a knock on her dorm room door.

This causes her to sigh in annoyance and get off of her bed.

"Ughh, I'm coming." Hope practically shouts when she heard a second knock, before opening it to find Jed outside her dorm.

"What do you want, Jed?" Hope asks, looking impatient and sounding annoyed.

"Josie said you weren't coming out of your dorm, or answering your phone. She asked me to come check on you." Jed explains, easing Hope's nerves.

"Well, you can tell her that I'm alive." Hope claims with a sarcastic smile then goes to shut the door in his face, but he stops it with his hand, shocking Hope.

"I was wondering if you wanted to head out to the Mystic Grill, with me." Jed wonders aloud, sounding awkward, which catches Hope's attention.

"Jed, are you asking me on a date?" Hope questions curiously but Jed back tracks.

"Oh, no. I was just wondering, if you wanted to hang out as, I don't know, friends." Jed feels awkward as Hope looks at him, shocked.

"You know what, just forget I asked." Jed exclaims, hating the fact that he's being weird, and starts to walk away before Hope stops him.

"Well, I'm not doing much. So, you know, if you want, we could head to the grill. I just so happen to be hungry, anyway." Hope agrees to go to the grill with Jed, who she can tell is trying to make friends, although she does find it weird that he's starting with her in his 'making friends' quest.

So, Hope and Jed go the grill for food, where they sit at a table.

"Oh, I have to use the bathroom. Excuse me." Hope stands and goes to the bathroom after excusing herself.

The second after she leaves, their beverages are served to the table.

"Thanks." Jed thanks the waiter, who smiles then frowns in confusion.

"Where'd your girl go?" the waiter asks, looking at the table, confused.

"Oh, bathroom." Jed responds and the waiter nods.

"Oh, well your food will be out shortly." the waiter assures him then walks away to get the food.

Five minutes later, Hope returns from the bathroom, sits down and takes a very long sip of her beverage.

"Hmm. This doesn't taste right, oh well." Hope continues drinking her beverage, unsuspectingly after claiming something tastes wrong with her drink.

Once they've finished eating, Hope has been acting more relaxed and slightly off, but Jed doesn't know why.

"How about you sit outside and get some fresh air while I wait for the check?" Jed suggests, looking concerned and confused by her behavior.

"Oki doki." Hope stands to her feet, nearly falling as she does but grabs the back of her chair then leaves with Jed looking after her, concerned.

Hope sits on a bench outside, and everytime somebody walks by she yells at, judges, or just totally insults them, for no reason other than they pass by her.

She drinks from her to-go cup she asked for before she left per Jed's request then starts talking to a little girl, who came to sit next to her.

"So, what do you…" Hope was about to ask her a question before realizing she's a child.

"Wait a second. Okay, who's kid is this?" Hope shouts this question as she picked the girl up, at the passersby, all of whom shake their heads at the kid, not recognizing her.

"I'm a nameless orphan." the little girl admits to her, causing Hope to frown.

Jed finally walks out of the grill and heads toward Hope.

"Hey. It took a long time to find a different waiter after our waiter apparently left." Jed explains then frowns in confusion once he notices the little kid.

"Who's this?" Jed motions to the girl, that Hope embraces in a big hug.

"She's mine now. I'm keeping her, she's my kid now." Hope exclaims happily causing the little girl to smile cheerfully.

"Really?" the girl looks to her for reassurance and Hope just nods at her.

"Yep, I'm adopting you. You're my new daughter." Hope claims reassuring her.

"Um, I don't know how the headmaster is going to feel about that, but I guess it's okay." Jed seemed pretty chill with Hope adopting the kid and they headed back to their school.

However, it was when Jed was driving, he could smell alcohol on her breath as she talked to the child she kept on her lap.

"Hope, have you been drinking?" Jed looks over at his companion in the passenger seat.

"Only soda." Hope reminds him, then continues focusing her attention on the little former orphan girl

"I think I'm going to name you… Anastasia. You look like an Anastasia." Hope names the girl, who smiles happily.

"Yay." Anastasia cheers happily at her new name.

The three of them get to the school and Jed drops Hope off at her dorm room then leaves after opening the door, which Hope claimed she didn't remember how to open.

Once in her dorm room, Anastasia closed the door while Hope just smiled at her then picked her up, bringing her to and placing her on bed before she collapses on it, falling asleep.

Two days later, Hope finally regains consciousness after hanging out with Jed.

When she wakes up, she sees a little girl sleeping across from her, causing her to sit up and stares at the girl in confusion then looks around to see if there are more children, which there aren't.

The little girl wakes up and stares at her, smiling happily but then frowns when it's obvious Hope doesn't recognize her.

"You don't know who I am." the girl realizes sadly and Hope shakes her head, agreeing with the realization.

"I'm Anastasia. You adopted me three days ago." Anastasia reveals, shocking Hope.

"How old are you?" Hope asks, still in shock yet also confused.

"I think I'm three." Anastasia thinks aloud then Hope gets off of her bed.

"Hold on for a moment. I'll be right back." Hope claims then walks into her bathroom and pulls out her phone.

"Hey, Jed." Hope says once he picks up the phone.

"Hey, Hope. What's up? Anastasia said you were unconscious for two days." Jed's tone of voice sounds concerned.

"Actually, I think it's been longer. It feels like it's been longer. Um, what happened when we got dinner?" Hope wonders, clearly on the verge of freaking out.

"That depends. What do you remember about that night?" Jed still sounds concerned about Hope.

"That's just it, I barely remember eating anything. All I remember is drinking my beverage and all of a sudden I'm waking up days later, with a three year old laying next to me." Hope explains, sounding frantic now.

"Well, the girl's name is Anastasia. She was an orphan and you declared you were adopting her while on a bench outside the grill." Jed reminds her and parts of the evening started to click in her mind but mainly when she adopted the girl that is now in her dorm room.

"I would ask if you want to help me but you probably have better things to do." Hope assumes with a roll of her eyes.

"Actually, I'd love to help. But I'm trying to figure out how you got alcohol in your system. And what happened to our waiter who served us." Jed reveals what he's doing, which shocks Hope, but before she can question him, he ends the call.

Hope walks out of her bathroom and smiles at Anastasia warmly as the girl had a frown.

"Your going to revoke the adoption declaration, aren't you?" Anastasia looks very sad and although Hope would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it, but with the newly clicked in memory of adopting her she decided not to.

"No, I'm not. I just don't think I can do this on my own. How would you like to meet a friend of mine named Josie?" Hope wonders, still smiling warmly after admitting she's going to keep her, which Anastasia smiles at.

So Hope picks her up then heads to Lizzie and Josie's dorm room, which only Josie is at.

"Hi, Josie." Hope greets her causing her to look up from her magazine.

"Hey. Who's that?" Josie motions to the little girl that Hope's holding.

"This is Anastasia, the daughter that I just adopted a couple days ago." Hope reveals, shocking Josie.

"You're a mother now?" Josie looks at her questioningly and confused.

"Yeah. I didn't know who else to go to for help with this." Hope admits awkwardly, which Josie feels touched by.

"How old is she?" Josie looks at the little girl with a warm smile.

"We don't know but we assume that she's probably three." Hope exclaims and Josie continues to smile at Anastasia.

"How did you adopt her?" Josie looks at Hope curiously and Hope makes a face as though she doesn't want to answer that but she does.

"Um, that is a really funny story." Hope claims, embellishing a bit, with an awkward tone of voice.

Hope confesses everything that happened several days earlier and how she adopted little Anastasia, all of it shocking Josie.

"So, Jed would like to help but he's too busy investigating how you accidentally got drunk." Josie has just finished processing the information that Hope gave her.

Hope nods at this and Josie looks back up at Hope and Anastasia with a broad smile.

"I'd be more than happy to help." Josie exclaims enthusiastically which causes Hope to smile happily at her.

For the next several months, Hope and Josie have practically become over-protective parents to Anastasia, who enjoys it greatly.

"Where's aunt Lizzie?" Anastasia asks curiously as Hope makes breakfast for the three of them.

"She's been helping uncle Jed with research for the past couple months." Josie replies as she folds some clothes.

"Oh, no. Josie, those clothes are dirty." Hope takes the pan off the flame and walks over to pull the shirt that Josie just folded out of her hands.

"Oh. Then why are they in the basket?" Josie wonders.

"That's actually a hamper." Hope points out as she makes her way back to the stove, making Josie feel mildly embarrassed while Anastasia chuckles at Josie's mistake.

"Right. I should've known that." Josie exclaims awkwardly causing Hope to slightly chuckle.

"Anastasia, why don't you go get dressed?" Josie recommends and Ana walks away to change out of her pajamas.

After she leaves, Josie walks to where Hope is cooking then wraps her arms around her waist before backing away, realizing she invaded Hope's personal space.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space." Josie apologizes as she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear.

Hope has just finished cooking, so she turns to face Josie after turning the stove off.

"It's fine, really. I was actually okay with it." Hope assures Josie, who looks at her shocked.

"Really?" Josie questions unsure as Hope starts approaching her, which causes her to back up until she hits a counter.

"Mhmm." Hope nods in agreement before leaning into a kiss that Josie happily reciprocates.

After the kiss breaks, they smile happily at each other before leaning in for more until Hope lifts Josie on top of the counter.

They're making out on the counter top, almost forgetting all about breakfast, when Anastasia returns.

She awkwardly clears her throat, catching their attention.

"Hi, sweetie." Hope greets her, both her and Josie feeling weird but Anastasia just smiles happily.

"I'm ready." Anastasia says enthusiastically as Hope and Josie break apart.

"Okay. Let's eat breakfast and I think Josie was taking you to the hospital." Hope looks to Josie, who nods at her, agreeing to the confirmation that she was looking for.

Later at night, Hope and Josie are sharing a bed, with Hope having her back facing Josie.

"So, how was the trip to the hospital?" Hope makes conversation since neither of them are sleeping.

"Um, took a blood test so we can figure out her age and genetics. The results will be back in two days." Josie responds, feeling awkward about what happened before breakfast.

"Good." Hope says plainly then she turns around to face Josie as she does the same.

"So, about this morning…" Hope starts, feeling and sounding embarrassed about her actions, but before she can explain, Josie sits up then kisses her, which she happily reciprocates.

This kiss leads to more until they're both sitting up in order to unbutton and remove each other's shirts, then Hope pushes Josie down on the bed, topping her, the two proceeding to have sex in Hope's dorm room.

Two days later, the test results reveal that Anastasia is, in fact, five and an unnamed orphan, as her mother died when she was born then her father committed suicide a year later, having never felt the need to name her after his wife passed.

A week after that, Josie goes to talk to Lizzie, who she hasn't seen in months.

"Hey, Lizzie. I saw Jed walk out." Josie claims after greeting her sister shyly.

Having not seen her twin in months, Lizzie lunges at and attacks her with a bear hug.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in decades!" Lizzie screeches enthusiastically, happy to see Josie, who returns the love.

"I feel the same." Josie responds as Lizzie breaks the hug.

"Um, we need to talk." Josie's tone is serious and Lizzie nods in agreement.

"Well, I don't have anything new to share on this tiring research. So, spill." Lizzie practically demands, so Josie takes a deep breath before talking.

"I know we haven't spoken in a while, but I wanted to inform you of the fact that I might have a relationship." Josie reveals, shocking Lizzie. since she's gaping at her in severe shock.

"Who?" Lizzie wonders curiously as she continues to gape at her twin.

"Um, Hope." Josie says uneasy of Lizzie's reaction, but is shocked when her twin gives her a very broad smile.

"It's about damn time." Lizzie exclaims, revealing that Hope and Josie happening was something that she was waiting for.

"So, you're okay with me dating?" Josie still looks uneasy but Lizzie embraces her in another hug.

"Of course I am. And I'm even happier that it isn't with Penelope." Lizzie admits with a smile after she backs away from the hug.

"Wait, did you just come here to get my blessing for entering a relationship?" Lizzie frowns and Josie starts to shake her head.

"Oh no. I mean, I thought I'd ask since I knew I was going to be here, but I really missed seeing you and needed to know you were alive. Since you don't text me anymore." Josie reassures Lizzie, who goes back to smiling broadly.

"Now you're in a relationship and have a kid. I'm so happy for you." Lizzie's eyes start to water.

"Lizzie, are you crying?" Josie looks at her sympathetically.

"Yeah." Lizzie put a hand over her mouth and nods in agreement as she lets a couple of tears fall causing Josie to hug her.

"Alright. I promise that I'll text more but you go back to your girlfriend, okay?" Lizzie gives Josie a look as she wiped the tears away and Josie nods then leaves the dorm room to head back to Hope.

"Hey, welcome back. Anastasia's asleep." Hope tells Josie, who just entered the room, in a whisper.

Without any forewarning, Josie just walks over and kisses Hope passionately, which Hope reciprocates happily.

"What has you in such a great mood?" Hope asks, even though it's obvious that she isn't complaining, and Josie just smiles at her.

"I just came back from talking to Lizzie." Josie announces, and she's very happy from this visit to her sister so Hope rules out that it was a negative encounter.

"Okay. She put you in a brilliantly, confident mood, so I can only imagine what you two talked about." Hope states with a good-natured eye roll.

"Uh, we talked about you. And she said that it was okay for us to be a couple, not that we are." Josie awkwardly adds after declaring what her and Lizzie talked about earlier, this shocking Hope.

"You went to your sister to get approval of a relationship?" Hope frowns in confusion, hurt that Josie needs to ask for her sister's blessing just so she can date.

"Yeah. Hey, that's just how it is with us. She gets the relationships, I usually just sit on the sidelines." Josie assures Hope, who clearly doesn't like that trade.

"Just because that's how it is, doesn't make it right. You deserve a voice and relationship as much you ensure Lizzie gets." Hope defends Josie's place with her twin, which shocks and touches Josie greatly.

"So, I feel like we should talk about last week." Josie claims, changing the subject while indirectly mentioning the day Anastasia went to the hospital.

"Josie, you can't say we aren't dating right after you kiss me." Hope decides to point this out, but the topic just makes Josie mildly uncomfortable.

"Well, it's just, I was really happy and you were here, so it was a 'why not' situation." Josie sputters out awkwardly, which makes Hope smile warmly at her, a smile that she returns.

"You know, if you want we can date." Hope suggests, her tone says she's awkward yet her facial expression says she wouldn't mind dating Josie.

"I mean, you already got the okay from Lizzie, so." Hope decided to backtrack when Josie was gaping at her in shock.

This was something that was non-verbally agreed to when they both engage and embrace in a heartfelt kiss when Anastasia walks up, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, what are you doing out of bed sweetie?" Josie walks over to her, looking concerned.

"I can't sleep, I had a nightmare." Anastasia admits sounding like she's going to cry.

"Do you want to tell us about this nightmare?" Hope joins them, looking at her sympathetically.

"It was dark, you two were there. But you were running away from me instead of closer, saving yourselves. I just saw your flashlights going further away until I was left alone in the darkness." Anastasia reveals what her nightmare was about, clearly feeling that they are going to abandon her at some point.

"Oh honey, that would never happen." Hope soothes her then pulls her into a hug while Josie nods, agreeing to Hope's statement.

"How about we tell you a bedtime story?" Josie puts out the suggestion and Ana nods in agreement.

"Okay." Hope says as she lifts Anastasia up and they head to where her bed is.

"What kind of story do you want to hear?" Josie questions with a smile.

"A happy one. With dragons and princesses. And mermaids." Anastasia makes her request for the story she wants them to tell and Josie seems to immediately regret her decision as her and Hope look at each other, uneasily.

"How are we going to fit mermaids in?" Hope whispers to Josie, who just shrugs, having no idea.

"Um, so, a long time ago in a very magical land, there was a pretty princess, who was in love with a knight." Josie starts off the story, in a very awkward tone when Hope pitches in.

"Yeah. But the knight turned out to be dark and cruel, as he let her get abducted by a villainous dragon." Hope adds with a nod and it's obvious that neither Hope nor Josie know how to tell a story.

"What was the princess's name?" Anastasia interrupts and they look at each other.

"Her name was Josie." Hope claims, not wanting to make up a new person.

"Uh, okay. So, Josie was taken to a high tower of doom that belonged to the dragon, as it was his headquarters." Josie knows this story is most likely complete crap, but she was the one who suggested it.

"Then, after a month of being there, the dragon brings Josie an unusual companion. A mermaid, to be exact." Hope manages to add in the mermaid that Ana wanted.

"Her name was Lizzie." Josie says quickly before the story could be interrupted and Hope nods in agreement to the name.

"Over the course of a year, Josie and Lizzie became great friends, who decided to plan an escape from the tower." Hope claims, then realizes that Lizzie's a mermaid and can't possibly leave the tower.

"But unbeknownst to them, the dragon was touched by their friendship so much, that they decided to join in on them." Josie says and it's obvious that they have no idea where this story is going but they continue because it makes Anastasia happy.

"These newfound friends of the dragon help heal her from the curse she was placed under when she was a child. Revealing the fact that the dragon was a woman instead of a man, as Lizzie and Josie had previously thought." Hope pitches in and Josie looks at her as though to say, 'you just read my mind'.

"This girl's name was Hope…" Josie starts but Hope cuts in.

"Who Josie took an immediate interest in." Hope finishes Josie's thought once again.

They continue telling the story, having it end with Josie getting revenge on the knight who she was formerly in love with, and Anastasia is sleeping peacefully once more, so they leave the room quietly, closing the door.

"Okay, note to self, don't suggest telling her a story." Josie makes a mental note, saying it aloud to remember it.

"It was kind of fun. I just prefer not being put on the spot like that." Hope admits and Josie smiles nervously at her.

**(Two years later)**

It was revealed that Hope and Jed's waiter wasn't actually one and it was also revealed that he was paid a hefty amount of cash to swap out Hope's beverage with alcohol but he killed himself, in order to prevent him from saying who paid him.

Two days after most of the truth was revealed, Hope was in a severe state of shock, as someone was paid to get her wasted for what will remain to be unknown reasons, but she doesn't cry or obsess over it, as if it weren't for accidentally getting drunk, she wouldn't have adopted Anastasia.

Hope renovated her dorm room so it has a kitchen and her closet, although remaining a closet, became Anastasia's room.

Of course, she made these renovations years ago, not long after she recruited Josie to help raise Anastasia, to be exact.

So, Hope is cooking on the stove when Josie enters the dorm room causing Hope to turn around.

"Mmm. Coming home to my girl cooking lunch. Definitely welcoming." Josie exclaims happily as she physically looks exhausted, yet this comment makes Hope blush.

Hope goes back to cooking when Josie leaves to shower and get comfy, which doesn't take long as she returns twenty minutes later.

"So, what has you exhausted?" Hope asks as she takes something from the fridge.

"Spending the day with Anastasia, Lizzie, and Pedro. It took a lot of convincing, and some cash, but Anastasia agreed to stay the night with Lizzie." Josie explains as she watches her girlfriend cook.

"Good, that gives us time to spend today together." Hope says suggestively but frowns when Josie looks confused.

"You make it seem like today is special." Josie claims, confused.

"I can't believe that you forgot that today is our two-year anniversary of dating." Hope scoffs but Josie bursts into a chuckle.

"Of course I didn't forget. I just wanted to see your reaction if did." Josie admits deviously which causes Hope to chuckle a bit.

"Hey, do you think you can grab the bottle opener?" Hope wonders and Josie nods, stands up, then heads to some drawers, but Hope doesn't entirely notice as she puts the food from the stove on the island before she turns around.

"Oh no, not that drawer." Hope walks over to stop Josie who already opened it, only to be shocked to find a ring box in it.

She picks up the box and turns to Hope, who looks awkward and embarrassed, before taking the box from her.

"What is that?" Josie looks as though she doesn't know what it is but Hope decides to just do her plan now.

"Ok, um I was planning to do this, later and not in an oversized purple sweater. But I've been meaning to do this not long after we started dating." Hope sounds awkward as she says this.

"I was just waiting for the right time, thinking that our anniversary would be it. Which, I guess, means that this is that moment. So, Josie Saltzman, will you marry me?" Hope opens the box to reveal a gorgeous diamond engagement ring, which Josie gapes at in awe.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes." Josie agrees while profusely nodding at her, then hugs Hope happily.

They break apart, so Hope can put the ring on her hand, then embrace in kisses that leads to them making out on the counter top, yet again.

**(Seven years later)**

Hope and Josie have moved out of the Boarding School, currently residing in a nice two-story house, perfect for three.

Josie has picked up cooking, as she makes breakfast while her wife's asleep, but it doesn't take long before Hope comes downstairs.

"What smells so good?" Hope asks sleepily as she walks into the kitchen, implying that the scent of the food is what woke her.

"I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed." Josie reveals with a frown, upset that Hope ruined the surprise.

"Oh, well… hi sweetie." Hope was about to probably make a suggestion, when Anastasia came downstairs.

"Hey moms." Anastasia greets them as she grabs an apple from a bowl on the counter.

"Um, I'm making breakfast." Josie motions to the food around her.

"I'll eat some for dinner. I don't want to be late for school." Anastasia admits, then takes a bite from the apple as she flings her backpack over her shoulder and leaves to board the bus that just showed up.

"I forgot that we had enrolled her in high school. She's grown up so quickly." Hope realizes and Josie nods in agreement before continuing to cook breakfast for the two of them.

"So, we have officially gotten time alone. What should we do?" Hope wonders as she wraps her arms around Josie's waist while she washes the dishes after breakfast.

Josie holds back a small giggle when Hope gently kisses her neck as she finishes up putting the dishes in the rack.

Hope continues to gently kiss Josie's neck before she turns around and they start making out, with Josie having soapy hands.

Hope backs away before Josie can embrace her, and hands her wife a towel so she can dry them.

"You know, I like the idea where we just stay in bed all day." Josie suggests before making out with Hope again then the kiss breaks and Hope leads them upstairs to spend the rest of the day in bed, as Josie suggested.

In the afternoon, Anastasia returns home, tosses her bag in a corner, then walks into the kitchen to see a plate of breakfast on the counter for her.

She smiles at this, looking back upstairs with a smile, and decides to reheat it for dinner.

Anastasia is happily eating the breakfast that her mom made when there's a knock at the door so she leaves the island to answer it.

"Hi, aunt Lizzie." Anastasia greets her aunt then hugs her.

"Where are your moms?" Lizzie questions as she looks around the house.

"They're probably upstairs. Why?" Ana wonders, looking curious.

"We have afternoon classes at Whitmore. I came to pick them up." Lizzie explains, reminding her niece.

"Oh, stay here. I'll go get them." Ana claims then skips upstairs to retrieve her moms.

Once upstairs, she knocks on the bedroom door, interrupting their make out session.

"Moms. Aunt Lizzie's here, you've got classes." Anastasia speaks loudly for them to hear, most likely because she thought they were in the bathroom.

"Oh, shit. I completely forgot." Hope realizes, then gets off Josie to get dressed.

"So did I." Josie admits as she starts to get dressed as well.

Anastasia heads downstairs to keep her aunt some company.

"I think they'll be down shortly." Anastasia believes causing Lizzie to nod.

A few moments later, Hope and Josie rush downstairs, putting on their jackets.

"Hey, Lizzie." Josie greets her twin, who smiles.

"Now, you remember the rules?" Hope looks at Ana, who sighs.

"Yep. Rule one; keep the door locked. Rule two; don't leave the house. And rule three; don't invite anyone over." Anastasia repeats the rules back and Hope, having restarted what her mom came up with, kisses her index and middle fingers then puts them out to Anastasia, who does the same, so they touch, then lock them together.

"Alright, we'll be back before midnight." Josie assures Ana, before hugging her tightly.

So Lizzie, Josie, and Hope all leave for Whitmore, leaving Anastasia alone, who immediately locks the door when she hears the car drive off.

She walks upstairs to her room and heads to the bathroom.

She looks in the mirror, and she doesn't notice this, but she looks so much like Hope, her hair type/texture, her ears, her jawline, yet she also has some Josie in her as well, her eye color, her mouth shape, her nose, and her cheek bones.

The only thing is, she's blonde like her aunt Lizzie, but that's the only thing she gets from her aunt, even if she isn't actually blood related to any of them not that she cares.

She just smiles at her appearance then goes to take a shower, which she enjoys.

Once she gets out of the shower, she puts on a robe and heads into her room to get changed when there's a knock on her glass door, as she has a balcony in her room.

Anastasia walks over to her balcony curiously and opens the door to reveal a fellow male student.

"Oh, hi Roman." Anastasia greets him awkwardly.

"Uh, how do you know where I live?" she wonders curiously and he hesitates before answering.

"Oh, well uh, the principal has contact files, which is where he keeps the whiskey, so naturally I'm familiar with it." Roman explains making Ana nervously laugh, showing that she has Josie's smile.

"Oh right, duh." Anastasia is very awkward around him and it's obvious that he is too.

"So, can I come in?" Roman questions as he is stuck at the threshold.

"Mmhmm." Anastasia nods but he remains in the doorway.

"You do know I'm a vampire right? That means you have to say it out loud." Roman reminds her with an awkward tone.

"Oh, um yeah, come on in." Ana invites him in and he enters the room, very close to her before she backs up a bit.

"Nice room." Roman compliments her bedroom as he looks around.

"Do you think you can turn around?" Anastasia suggests and Roman just simply obliges by turning around.

"So, why are you here?" Ana sounds curious and confused by the unexpected visit as she removes the robe to get dressed.

"Uh, I wanted to see how you were. I saw you getting bullied." Roman admits and Ana looks horrified.

"Did you come here to tell my parents?" Anastasia looks appalled as she gapes at Roman, unbeknownst to him.

"No, like I said, I wanted to see if you were okay." Roman assures her and she relaxes more.

"I'm fine. Uh, you can look now." Ana claims and he turns to face her, seeing that she's wearing lounge clothes.

"So, you came all the way to my house to make sure I was okay?" it's obvious that Ana doesn't believe Roman, so she starts to head out of her room.

Roman, fearing she's going to tell her parents about him being there, runs after and grabs her, turning her to face him, which shocks her greatly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to grab you. I just thought you were going to tell your parents." Roman admits, backing away from her embarrassed.

"My parents aren't home, they have college classes till nightfall." Ana informs him, causing him to look more relaxed.

"Oh, okay. I should probably leave then. I'm glad that you're alright." Roman starts walking back to the balcony when Ana stops him.

"You don't have to leave. We could play a board game, or something." Anastasia awkwardly suggests after he turns around from her first statement.

Ana smiles at him shyly and he returns a small smile, agreeing to stay a bit longer.

"You never talk about your parents." Roman just states randomly as they sit on the couch in the living room, watching TV after eating.

"Well, I'm afraid that I'll get bullied more if any of them find out about my parents. None of the students understand the 'love is love' kind of thing." Anastasia responds to his comment, which makes him look at her curiously.

"I have two moms." Ana clarifies and although Roman is shocked, he doesn't seem revolted.

"How did that happen?" Roman wonders, not even paying attention to the television.

"A really funny story. My one mom accidentally got drunk while hanging out with a friend and she just drunkenly declared she was adopting me. After she was sober, however, she went to my other mom for help with raising me, becoming co-parents. They just got married three years ago." Anastasia explains the story of how she got two moms, the story impressing Roman.

"How does somebody accidentally get drunk?" Roman looks confused.

"Uh, some guy was paid to swap out her beverage with alcohol." Ana replies, shocking Roman once again.

"Does anyone know who paid him?" Ana just shakes her head at this question.

"Nope. The guy who was paid to do it killed himself, in order to not rat out his employer. Or at least, that's what my parents assume." Ana reveals and Roman just nods, processing this information.

All of a sudden, Anastasia hears a car pull up which horrifies her.

"Oh, crap. My parents are home. You have to leave." Ana exclaims so without question, Roman vamp speeds upstairs to leave out Ana's balcony while she cleans up.

Ana then notices he left something there while scurrying to clean the dishes, so she grabs and runs to the kitchen.

Hope and Josie walk in, giggling about something, after unlocking the door.

"Ana! We're back." Josie announces their return.

"Uh, in the kitchen." Anastasia speaks up to let them know she's still awake, so they walk in.

"Sweetie, wear gloves if you're going to wash the dishes. Remember?" Hope points out and Ana nods awkwardly.

"Right." she says, clearly implying that she forgot.

Once her moms walk out to head upstairs, Ana looks down in the sink, revealing that it's actually the thing Roman left behind and she sighs in relief that her moms didn't see it.

Over the course of a couple months, Ana has been avoiding Roman since he was almost caught by her parents that is, until Roman confronted her about.

Anastasia has joined the Mystic Fall Timberwolves Cheerleading team, in order to remove the bullies and tormentors on her back, only to still have them, except most of them are men.

She has just jogged up to bleachers when Roman just appears out of nowhere.

"You're avoiding me." Roman claims, scaring Ana, who jumps then turns to face him.

"What are you doing here?" Ana looks around to make sure no one is watching.

"Trying to figure out why you're avoiding me." Roman states plainly and Ana just rolls her eyes as she packs up her gym bag.

"One would think you'd take the hint." Anastasia retorts as she flings her gym bag over her shoulder then starts to walk away, but Roman stops her.

"Look, please just talk to me." Roman pleads so Ana sighs then motions to go behind the bleachers, which they do.

"You almost got caught in my house by my parents." Ana reminds him but he scoffs.

"That's why you've been avoiding me for five months." Roman disbelieves Ana, so she sighs again and decides to admit the truth.

"Everytime I look at you, I feel something I'm not used to feeling. Actually, something I've never felt before. So, I'm thinking that if I avoid you then I won't have to admit what I want." Anastasia explains and Roman looks taken aback by this.

"Well, what exactly do you want?" Roman asks, still processing her confession.

Ana just leans up, after grabbing his face, and kisses him passionately.

Anastasia looks horrified by her actions after the kiss breaks and scurries off before Roman can stop her, as he stands behind the bleachers still in shock.

After the kiss, Anastasia avoids him even more than she did before which Roman kind of finds understandable.

However, when Ana stays home sick, him being her only friend, she collects her homework and heads to her house.

Roman knocks on the door and Josie answers it.

"Hi. I'm Roman. I heard that Anastasia's home." Roman claims as he has a charming smile and Josie looks at him curiously.

"She's sick. Why are you here?" Josie looks skeptical so Roman gets serious and to the point.

"Um, I'm a friend of hers. I heard she was staying home, so I thought I'd drop by and give her the day's homework." Roman explains why he's there causing Josie to open the door fully.

"Well, come on in." Josie motions him inside and he enters.

"Thanks." Roman thanks Josie then follows her to Anastasia, who is resting on the couch.

"Your friend is here to drop off your homework." Josie tells her soothingly then looks back at Roman curiously.

"Have I seen you before? You just look familiar." Josie claims, still looking at him suspiciously.

"You might've seen me around town. I don't know, I probably just have one of those faces." Roman shrugs, looking awkward answering the question and Josie nods then walks away.

"Roman. What are you doing here?" Ana struggles to sit up as Roman sits on the same couch as her.

"I came to drop off the day's homework." Roman repeats what Josie told her and she nods.

So, Roman stays to help Anastasia with her homework and notes she should write down, since Josie said it was okay.

A few hours later, the two are still on the couch and Josie's in the kitchen, when Hope comes home.

"Hey babe. Who's car is outside our house?" Hope practically shouts the question, obviously at Josie, who walks out to greet her.

Hope stops dead in her tracks when she sees a guy on the same couch as her daughter.

"Oh, that's his car." Josie motions to the guy on the couch, who turns around to meet both of Ana's parents, only to be shocked when he sees Hope.

"Hope?" Roman looks at her in shock, not believing that she's Anastasia's mother.

"Roman." Hope sighs out, looking at him with a stupefied facial expression.

"You two know each other?" Ana wonders with a weak tone, curiously.

"We used to go to school together." Hope reveals and it seems that Josie remembers him now.

"I remember you now. You used to play soccer before you dropped out of school." Josie recalls Roman and he looks awkward as he shifts uncomfortably while he stands.

"I didn't know that." Ana states, trying to clear the awkwardness in the room before coughing a bit.

"Well, I should probably leave. It was nice seeing both of you again." Roman is about to run out of there after implying that he remembers Josie but Ana stops him.

"How do you two know each other?" Anastasia asks, very curiously and obviously took note of how Hope and Roman looked at each other.

"We had a complicated relationship." Hope sputters out awkwardly but seeing Ana more curious, Roman spills the beans after Hope casts him a look.

"We kissed, once." Roman blurts out, shocking Anastasia and Josie.

"But then he betrayed my trust, I nearly killed him, and I haven't seen him in eleven years." Hope summarizes her past with Roman, who just nods in agreement with it.

"Yeah, I think you should probably leave now." Hope pretty much shoves him out the door then slams it once he's outside.

"So, would now be a totally weird time to tell you that I just kissed him, like a month ago?" Anastasia wonders weakly as a result of being sick.

This has her both her mothers staring at her in shock and they all just feel uncomfortable by what Anastasia just admitted.


End file.
